Monday, August 1, 2016

Chinese-born naturalized U.S. citizen had top secret security clearance at FBI for almost 2 decades, pleads guilty to providing US secrets to Communist China from 2011 to 2016. Relatives of Chun also received money-WSJ. US Justice Dept. has dropped at least 3 high profile Chinese spy cases in past two years

"Chinese-born naturalized U.S. citizen faces about two years in prison under plea agreement."......"A longtime Federal Bureau of Investigation employee pleaded guilty on
Monday to acting as an agent for the Chinese government and sending
sensitive information about the U.S. government to a Chinese official.........Kun Shan Chun,
46 years old, worked at the FBI’s New York field office as an
electronics technician and had been granted top-secret security
clearance for almost two decades. Mr. Chun, who was arrested in March,
was born in Guangdong, China, and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in
1986. On Monday, Mr. Chun admitted in Manhattan federal court to
feeding sensitive information to a Chinese government official............“Between
2011 and 2016, on various occasions, I acted in the U.S. at the
direction of a Chinese official,” Mr. Chun told the judge on Monday. “At
the time, I knew that was wrong, and I am sorry for my actions.”...........His lawyer, federal defender Jonathan Marvinny, said his client “deeply regrets” the mistakes he has made.........“The
truth is that Mr. Chun loves the U.S. and never intended to cause it
any harm,” Mr. Marvinny said in a statement. “He hopes to put this
matter behind him and move forward with his life.”..........Mr. Chun was
introduced to the Chinese government official in 2011 during a trip to
Italy and France, prosecutors said.... To conceal his relationship with the Chinese
official and other Chinese nationals, Mr. Chun repeatedly lied to the
FBI on forms related to his security clearance, prosecutors allege............ The
case is likely to raise fears in the U.S. government about suspected
economic espionage by China, which has become a heightened focus for the
Justice Department in recent years. In 2014, U.S. prosecutors charged
five Chinese military employees who allegedly hacked into U.S. companies
and won the convictions of two engineers accused of selling trade
secrets to Chinese companies.......... But the crackdown on Chinese spies
has also sparked criticism by Chinese-American leaders, who say the U.S.
government is racially profiling their community. Over the past two
years, the Justice Department has dropped at least three high-profile
cases related to Chinese espionage............. The
relationship came with perks. The associates helped Mr. Chun pay for
prostitutes and trips overseas, and on at least one occasion, they paid
him “a couple thousand” dollars, he told the undercover agent, according
to prosecutors. Relatives of Mr. Chun, who also received payments from
the associates and invested in Kolion, allegedly urged him to go along
with the arrangement......... Mr. Chun said he communicated with his Chinese associates through WeChat and tried to avoid using the phone, prosecutors said."...